Over the weekend I covered the Texas Water Safari as one of the “official photographers.”
Anyone who’s ever been involved with the Texas Water Safari knows that “official” is relative. I had the “official” shirt and I posted photos to the “official” Facebook page, but really, it’s hard to be “official” when everyone is pretty much treated the same. It’s hard not to find a friend at the Safari. It’s one of the most welcoming, positive, sometimes crazy group of people I’ve ever encountered.
I was assisting my friend, Erich Schelgel, a highly respected photographer who has participated in and photographed the race over the past few years. He had some work to do back home, so we traded off a bit on Safari coverage. Here he is (the one with the camera):
What is the Texas Water Safari?
The world’s toughest canoe race. It’s a 262-mile boat race that starts at Aquarena Springs (Spring Lake) in San Marcos, TX, travels down the San Marcos River, the Guadalupe River, and in to San Antonio Bay (that’s the ocean!), where they cross the finish line in Seadrift, TX. There are different classes of boats, from solo kayak to six-man canoe, and all of them must take everything they need with them from the beginning, with the exception of water and ice, which their team captains are allowed to hand off at check points. This year marked the 50th anniversary.
I first learned about the Texas Water Safari when I was on staff at the San Marcos Daily Record. I covered the start of the race for five years, and this year I decided to follow it all the way down to the coast.
Check-in
On Friday I went up to Aquarena Springs, where boats were being checked in and everyone was preparing for the race. I picked up my t-shirt and my driving guide and headed home to plan my route and pick up a few things from the store. But not before I snapped some pictures.
Starting Line – Mile 0
On Saturday morning my husband Nick and I arrived at Aquarena Springs at 8 a.m. We’ve found in the past that if Nick drives, he can be ready for me to hop in the car to head to Rio Vista (the next check point), so we can arrive before the boats. Nick stayed in the car while I took photos of everyone putting their boats in the water.
At about 8:50, ten minutes before the start of the race, I went back to the car and we drove to Rio Vista.
Rio Vista Falls – Mile 1 (ish)
This is one of my favorite places to be during this race. It’s a man-made class 3 rapid whitewater park. There are three chutes and I like to stand on the rocks next to the second chute. When the water is low, you can walk on the rocks to the middle of the river without getting wet. I wouldn’t recommend watching the race from this spot unless you’re an experienced shooter and your gear is insured. Boats come flying (and crashing) through this area and they don’t care whether or not they knock you over. You must be very aware of what’s around you. That being said, it’s a great place to get action!
Cotton Seed – Mile 5 (ish)
Most of the boats come and go quickly through Rio Vista, so we hurried back to the car to get to Cotton Seed, which is an area of the San Marcos River in Martindale. This is also a favorite viewing area. There are small rapids extended over about a 75-yard stretch, and the boats are still pretty well grouped, so there’s a lot of action and not much waiting.
I always start shooting up river, closer to where the rapids begin, but I always end up standing in knee-deep water, down river a bit.
Unlike Rio Vista, this area of the river is not one of those easy decisions to make as far as portaging. The rapids are small, so most boats risk it, but there’s a high percentage of bail-outs.
After Cotton Seed we made a quick trip back to San Marcos so I could transmit a few photos to the Statesman and get my car (we parked in San Marcos overnight), so I could continue down river.
Luling Dam/Zedler Mill – Mile 42
I skipped a popular viewing place – Staples Dam in Martindale – to transmit photos. It’s a large dam, much like the place I’m about to talk about, but this one is a lot more conducive to photos.
Zedler Mill is right next to Luling Dam in a public park. Public parks are always easier to access than trying to shoot from private property. (I would never recommend shooting from private property without permission!) Both sides of the river are easily accessible, but I shot from the east side. If you stand on the bank there, you have a straight-on view of boats going over the dam.
There’s a large retaining wall that has big steps down to the water. I started shooting from the top and climbed down to the water later. This is also a place where boats start needing to re-fill water, so many of them stop momentarily to exchange bottles with their team captains.
Palmetto State Park – Mile 58
“Palmetto at sunset.” During check-in I asked paddlers if they had any advice about what I shouldn’t miss. This was it.
There’s a small walking bridge that crosses the river inside Palmetto State Park and by about 6 p.m. it’s packed. I arrived about that time and saw the crowds part as paddlers moved their boats over the middle or under the sides of the bridge. Because of the nature of this check-point, it’s a good spot to get out and stretch for a minute before hopping back in to the boat. It’s also the time of day when boats need to attach lights and prepare for paddling over night.
This ended up being my favorite spot for photos.
The sun was starting to set when the majority of boats came through. The bridge isn’t lit, and I was afraid of blinding paddlers with my flash, so I took a few slow-shutter shots before calling it a night.
A lot of people stay the night at Palmetto. The Safari rents out the group camping area and they gave me a pass to stay. After I finished with my night shots it was about 9:30 p.m. I sat in my car, looking at my map to plan out where I would go on day 2, when I realized that I was 54 min (according to gps) from my own bed. I looked at the clock and looked at my car, which would have been my bed for the night, and promptly turned on my ignition and drove home.
Cuero Hwy 236 – Mile 160
This year every boat was required to have a tracking device in their boat. That was great for team captains and anyone following the race online because it would show every boat’s location and rate of speed. That meant I could try to predict where to shoot.
By my calculations, the first boat would be in Cuero at the check-point under the Hwy 236 bridge around 8 a.m. I got up early and drove 2 hours to meet them there. When I arrived, I looked at the chart and saw that they came through at 7 a.m. and I had just missed the second boat. I waited for a little while and team captains started to arrive for the next grouping of boats.
This point in the river was dramatically different than most of the stops on day 1. The water was calm, the river was a bit wider and murkier, the boats were much more spaced out, and honestly there wasn’t a whole lot to see. I stayed to shoot six or seven boats, then I went to search for a clean restroom.
Victoria City Park – Mile 198
I made my way to Victoria City Park to catch the first boat. They came through about 12:15 p.m. on Sunday. Then there was a three hour gap before the next boat was supposed to arrive, so I went in to town and got some lunch and came back.
While I waited for boats, I got to chat with spectators on the bank, who were all experienced safariers. I heard a great story about a tandem boat. One guy was really excited about the race and convinced his buddy to do it with him. Then, about half way through the race, the first guy (the excited one) got out of the boat and refused to continue. His friend found a large rock on the bank, set it in the empty spot and finished the race on his own. There are so many stories like that.
This is the point in the race that everybody hates. It’s day 2, no one has had a good night’s sleep, the river moves slow, it started to get horribly hot. This is where a lot of people start to have trouble, hallucinate, and drop out of the race.
I stayed in Victoria for most of the afternoon and watched boats come in and out, some doing better than others. I also got to see more of the team captain responsibilities.
This was also where I first heard of a terrible situation. That morning at around 6:15 a.m. a helicopter rescued a paddler, who we later heard was Brad Ellis, in boat 22. At that point we knew he wasn’t doing well and that he was flown to Brooks Army Medical Center in San Antonio, where he was in ICU for hyponatremia, an electrolyte disturbance in the body.
The Wooden Bridge – Mile 250 (ish)
This isn’t an official checkpoint and to get there I had to ask for directions at least three times. It’s just below the saltwater barrier (mile 247) and it’s on private property. Fortunately, the owner of the property is not only a really nice guy, he’s a big fan of the safari. The wooden bridge is the last time for team captains to see their boat before the finish line. Shortly after the bridge, they enter the bay and make their way to Seadrift.
I wanted to see boat 314, who was far ahead of the pack, come through this spot. I tried to get there plenty early so I wouldn’t miss them, but it ended up to be over an hour early. The sun was starting to set as I sat at a pavilion close by and listened to safari stories from other fans who were waiting for the boat. It’s a beautiful area and I shot the sunset as we were sitting there.
At dusk the team showed up and parked on the bridge, blaring their car stereo with a song that had special meaning to the team. After a while, a tiny light appeared from the darkness and grew as the boat got closer. The ground team started cheering and dancing with flash lights on the bridge as I photographed. (I had to use flash this time.) The boat disappeared under the bridge and in to the darkness and I joined the caravan to Seadrift.
Seadrift – The Finish Line – Mile 262
I arrived at about 10 p.m. at the finish line. There’s not a beach, just a wall with steps leading up out of the water, and a pavilion close by. The support team for boat 314 had gone to check out their hotel before greeting their team, so I waited with San Antonio Express News photographer Jerry Lara. When the team returned, they tried tracking their team online, but signal was bad and they realized they’d just have to wait and watch for a light.
It was terribly windy that night, which made the bay especially choppy. Boat 314 decided to enter the bay and stay away from the shore until they could make a 90 degree turn and ride the waves in to the finish line. It took everyone by surprise when they made that turn because they were maybe 50 yards from the shore before anyone saw them.
They came to shore around 11:30 p.m. Sunday, all in great condition.
Sunday night I stayed in a hotel in Port Lavaca, the next town over. Again I tried to predict when a group of boats would finish, and I calculated that I’d need to be there about 8 a.m. When I arrived, that group of paddlers was sitting on shore. They arrived at 7:30 a.m., a half hour earlier than expected. Some of their team captains even missed their arrival. All was well, though, as another group of boats was expected soon.
We all sat on shore facing west, squinting to see the next boat to appear on the horizon. Soon we saw a tandem boat, and then a solo boat. The solo boat made a sharp turn for a dock on shore and we dismissed it as a local kayaker out for a morning paddle, and continued to watch the tandem boat. It was boat 130, John Bugge and Bob Vincent. Bugge holds a record for most finishes. They were both exhausted and elated. Vincent, 69, could barely stand on his own and Bugge, 61, didn’t even try. He floated in the water for a while, drinking 2 beers before coming to shore.
Meanwhile, while all of us were clamoring around boat 130, a more than exhausted Andrew Condie, dragged his boat to the finish line on shore. He had made that sharp turn to the dock and walked his boat in. We didn’t notice him until he nearly collapsed yards away from the finish line.
More boats poured in and the celebrations continued.
After a while there was a gap between boats and I figured it was time for me to head back home. I stopped at the hotel, transmitted some photos and headed north.
As I pulled in to my driveway, I got the news. Brad Ellis, the paddler rescued Sunday morning had passed. Before I emptied my car, I pulled out my laptop and had the grim job of looking for his photo. I found a few shots of him and his tandem partner at Cotton Seed and sent them to local newspapers who had requested photos. It was a very sad moment for all who were involved in the Safari. Ellis is the only death reported during the 50 year race history.
Over the next few days I posted many race photos online on the Texas Water Safari Facebook page (click to view), and tried to get back to normal after a spectacular race.
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